Fresh from the lion’s den unscathed

It was in November 2021. I was very reluctant to go to Nigeria this time and particularly Egbe; in Kogi state, Okunland where I hail from. I mean a place that will be life full of activities in festive moods especially in December when meetings of old friends, weddings, club meetings and all sorts will be taking place. It was supposed to be a break from the humdrum life that has so much dominated my work schedule in America.

Oh! Nigeria, the once beautiful country, never knew I could spend a week outside of it. It was a country where everybody that needed job got a job. It was just like the USA of West Africa. Many other nationals, particularly west Africans were rushing to obtain the Nigerian Green Passport. It was the time when a Volkswagen Beatle 15cc was sold for N2,500, Peugeot N4,800, Toyota Corona Sedan, N3,500, Nissan160 B N3,500. Those who were familiar with quaffing beer, 33, Star Larger, Double Crown, Guinness and Guilder were all being sold between 30 kobo to 70 kobo. Remember all major interstate roads were either paved or tarred; all major towns in rural areas that were not connected to the national grid were connected to the REB (Rural Electrification Boards). All these things were happening during General Yakubu Gowan’s military regime. Salaries were being paid in full regularly. Looking back, those were Nigeria’s golden years. General Gowon remains the best head of state of Nigeria since independent. I wonder why no government ever built upon this foundation and that is why Nigeria has essentially not developed.

According to the current news of Nigeria reaching Nigerians living outside the country, the news is scary and very bad. It appears as if it is on life support needing Oxygen. The apparent news of the present Nigeria is that of a country which has fallen from the Olympian height to that of an ant mole hill, from Grace to  Grass. Nine out of 10 of news coming out of Nigeria today is gory with too much blood letting from robberies, kidnappings, killings for rituals, raping and all kinds of atrocities. It has now become a country where bandits reign supreme. Nigeria is fast becoming a failed state and a basket case where there is no rule of law as long as you belong  to a favoured tribe or group, even when you raped, maimed and killed with impunity.  These people now roam freely with deadly arsenal AK 47 the street unchecked. I am one of the consumers of such news which means Nigeria is a no go country for me especially at this time. It has become a Lion’s den.

Upon all these, my daughter, born and raised in America said she was going to Nigeria to do her wedding there. She had visited Nigeria only three times in her life before her own wedding. The wedding dates were set at December 17th and 18th, 2021. I did everything to dissuade her by pulling all negative news about Nigeria, in fact at this time I was soliciting for all available bad news that could help me persuade her. She would patiently wait without interrupting and told me “Daddy I have access to the internet and have read all the ones you were talking about but nothing bad has happened at Egbe.’’ To that, I said yes; but it is all over Nigeria.

Next, I had to call my siblings and relations in Nigeria  to tell them about my daughter’s intension-she is coming to Nigeria to do her wedding! Nearly all of them said ‘Hell, No not this time.’ I communicated it to my daughter. Another trusted friend suggested to me that we do the wedding here in the States and the thanksgiving  at Egbe at a later date. That sounds reasonable to me but she would have none of that. Then I asked her; ‘ why are you so adamant to have your wedding at Egbe bearing the costs and the dangers involved?’. She was going with a total 14 people, all Americans, all professionals, including a medical doctor, who will be visiting Nigeria mostly for the first time. Her reason is that she liked the traditional aspect of Yoruba wedding. In order words, she preferred the Traditional wedding than her own American culture. Now, myself being once a teacher of African literature a few years ago, I was sold.

Now, I had no choice but to fly to Nigeria on November 30th, 2021 to make arrangement. I was in a flight to Lagos and in order to be sure that I escaped the glaring eyes of kidnappers I booked for another flight to Ilorin which is only 85 miles from home. I have coasted home safe, so I thought. The bride and the bridegroom had different plan. They took another route via Abuja, Lokoja, Kabba, Mopa, Isanlu and Egbe. Honestly, I was engulfed with fear. I was in a total wreck when I thought of the safety of the route, their safety and the safety of the other members of their entourage. According to the news before I left the US, they all checked the Kidnapper’s wish list. That was my major concern and fear about the wedding, but glory be to God we all arrived safe.

December 14th was a typical ordinary harmattan day in Decembers; with dry north east winds blowing cool, relaxing fumes of burnt grass waffling in from the horizon of the beautiful rolling hills that helm in the town. This day (14th) was a special one for me because it was the first one in the 37th years of such. I do come home frequently at every other year during Summer, but not in December. Since it is my favorite month that I have missed in years, I started to reminisce on the old good days as there was seriously no need for anybody to travel out of Nigeria for anything. There was good educational system with international students and professors, there were jobs with good salaries, good food and a strong middle class. The economy was strong. The Nigerian Naira was the King. I remember a taxi man asking me to pay him in Naira instead of dollars in New York.  During that period, Nigeria used to be one of the safest in the sub- region; there was a stern respect for the rule of law. I was at a presentation in the US in the late 80s when an American woman touted the Nigeria law against armed robbery as one of the best in the world then. At that time, it was such that if you aided and abetted an armed robbery even with a pen knife, the punishment was public execution. Nigeria was a safe country then.  As I was trying to conclude my tell-tale story of what Nigeria used to be to my American visitors, I heard ‘kkrack,’ what I thought to be fire cracker since it was December time. The sound grew to become more sporadic, my visitors who were more familiar with the sound of Kalashnikov –AK47, were quick to say ‘daddy these were gunshots’ not fire crackers’……..I roared ‘no way, this is Egbe’…..before I could finish my sentence we heard a very heavy loud sound of a bomb….. Ghe..demmmm …… of Buster Dynamite. I thought they were coming for us since it was so close to our house …… There was fear in the face of everybody. There was stampede, just as everybody started to run helter-skelter without direction. There was another release of a big sound of the second bomb which was a little distant away, then another one but dwindled at a further distance from the house. Just as I, the host to over 14 mostly Americans was trying to explain, a lone but strong voice that pierced through like that of a Town Crier blasted loud “Ole, Ole!!” (armed bank robbers). They have already killed three persons. The three banks were bombed with dynamite and carted away with money. The whole town was gripped with fear. But a big relief came when we knew that we were at least not their target.

The bloody robbery claimed seven (7) lives total in Yagba West LocalGovernment, about five (5) in Egbe and two (2) in Odo-Ere. These lives were too much for the Egbe Town/Yagba West Security Agencies who immediately sprang into action.

The conventional Security agents in collaboration with local vigilantes and hunters in West Yagba of Okunland quickly strategized and with unusual kind of boldness and determination that I have not seen in a while. They vowed to pursue the armed bank robbers numbering up to 25 according to reports to the gates of Hell.

Through to their words, they dispersed through the land, air, riverine and tangled labyrinth winding roads through the hills that kept the Bank robbers circling the same spot without knowing until they were caught. In addition to the security manpower the Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello this time deserved a great credit to have dispatched planes in a timely manner. The planes included a hawkish helicopter and fighter planes.

The chopper and the planes were flying low to the amusement of the visitors.  The low flying planes were able to pick up the bank robbers one by one making sure that all the Bank robbers were either captured or liquidated.  The looted money were all gotten back as seen in the video clips that went viral. One robber that was caught at the gate of hell was croaking and begging for his life, asking the Security to take back the stolen money and give water to drink and take him to the Police headquarters.

One single thing that stands out that needs to be appreciated is the way and manner in which the West Yagba security team in Odo-Ere was quickly assembled together at Egbe. This includes the planes that were dispatched by the governor. The team of air men and the security vigilantes will remain a standard model for the nation that should be replicated to combat armed Bank robberies and kidnappers. It was so effective that none of the armed robbers escaped. That single operation by the West Yagba operatives had completely sanitized the community of any criminal activities of major robberies, kidnappings and abductions. It has made West Yagba of Okunland a ‘No Go Area’ for the armed robbers or kidnappers.  Though there were one or two incidences that occurred in East Yagba during the time that were being investigated. In the week leading to prenuptial wedding of December 17th and 18th our house became a rendezvous for the visitors who coincidentally had other Americans visiting  Nigeria for the first time at neighboring town of Isanlu. It was everyday night party leading to the eve and the wedding day. The streets were safe, so also the highways around West Yagba; nobody was looking for anybody. There was no need for me to spend any money on the security for the wedding. After the wedding went without any hitch the Bride and the Bridegroom plus their entourage went back to the States leaving us the parents behind.

At the end, I was trying to extend my stay.  I am glad we had come home for the traditional wedding. I ended up spending 60 beautiful days. I was calling my agents to see if I could extend my stay for another three weeks that would have taken till February this year.

There are three reasons why I have written my narrative experience.

The First group is for the people like me who was about to give up on Nigeria, not minding any kind of investment one might have there. For this group that I represent, there is a big chasm between news and reality. To put It mildly, there is a big difference between the news we hear and what actually happens on the ground. I don’t want to mislead you, the bad news is real but the magnitude and frequencies of occurrence is still very low to what I had in mind.

The second group of which I also partially belong has been inundated with so much negative news to the extent of complete give up and saying “I have nothing to do here again”.

The third group are the young ones that never benefited from Nigeria. They are highly educated mostly with Masters degrees and yet no job. When they manage to get out of Nigeria, they may choose never to return home. They have become children of the world; who can blame them?

I want to speak candidly to the first and the second group because I have just returned from Nigeria with a group of visiting Americans.  When the visitors returned to the states, I stayed back for another 60 days and was even asking for extension. I want to tell you that the issues of robberies and kidnapping are real but to say that you are going to be a victim is low; you are not on their radar. It will require a social scientist to explain. I am glad I made it home where I am truly loved I am making plans to visit again. That is where I naturally feel self-fulfilled.

If you belong to the first and second group my advice is if you have a project that you are undertaking at home, go ahead and complete it. Remember that bad times also do have expiration date; and currently nowhere is truly safe.

Fagbemi writes from the USA.